BMHA Owes Taxpayers $4 Million

It took 16 months for the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority to admit that Comptroller Mark Schroeder was right – it does owe the City of Buffalo $4 million dollars. Now the comptroller wants to know when taxpayers will get their money.

“I don’t care who is resigning from the B.M.H.A. board or who is being appointed to replace them – I want to know when taxpayers will get the $4 million they are owed,” said Schroeder. “All this other nonsense is just a distraction.”

At the July 5 Common Council Finance Committee meeting, the Law Department stated that the BMHA is no longer disputing the fact that it owes the City of Buffalo approximately $4 million.

“While it is encouraging that the B.M.H.A. has finally acknowledged this massive debt to the City, it is troubling for taxpayers that it took 16 months to reach this obvious conclusion after these debts were brought to the Common Council's attention through multiple communications from my department in March 2016,” wrote Schroeder in a communication to the Buffalo Common Council that will be on Tuesday’s council agenda.

Schroeder said that it is imperative that the B.M.H.A. acknowledge the debt in writing to the City, and amend its financial reports to reflect the debt to the City, especially considering the B.M.H.A. wrote off $3.5 million of the debt in its 2014 Basic Financial Statements.

“Some of this debt dates back more than a decade,” said Schroeder. “The taxpayers have been waiting long enough for their money – they need to be paid now.”